Chapter 58. Uninvited Guest (3)
“Eun-Ho! Eun-Ho! Are you okay?!”
“Hyuuungnim!”
Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk rushed over, frantic, checking every inch of him like panicked parents inspecting their kid for injuries. Under normal circumstances, the first one to crack a joke would’ve been the foul-mouthed guy, but even he appeared serious.
Letting out a long sigh, he muttered, “So let me get this straight. Someone tried to blow you up, and the bomber’s still here with us?”
“Pretty much,” Eun-Ho replied.
“Holy shit,” The Swear-Master swore under his breath, his fingers trembling as they hovered near his lips. He ripped off his cap and raked a hand through his hair, clearly rattled.
Now, to be fair, he wasn’t the only one taken aback.
“Wait, seriously? A bomb? But I didn’t hear anything, did you?” the woman of the couple asked.
The man shook his head quickly. “No. Nothing.”
She squeezed his arm tighter, eyes full of suspicion.
“That’s weird.” she said.
The model chimed in right after, her tone defensive. “Yeah, because if it was really a bomb, how are you totally fine, Mr. Lee?”
“Exactly,” added the chef. “And you’re saying someone in our group did this? That’s ridiculous.”
Only one person took Eun-Ho’s word at face value. It was The Swear-Master.
“Haaa... I figured something was off when I didn’t see any of you around.”
“Hey! Don’t just believe him like that!”
“You’re seriously buying this nonsense?”
Even Eun-Ho was mildly surprised. He hadn’t expected anyone to believe him outright. After all, he didn’t even have proof. Hence why he’d called Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk as backup just in case things went south.
However, here the Swear-Master was, nodding like he had solved the case.
“If I can’t trust him, I might as well not trust anyone here,” he grumbled.
Not that Eun-Ho was complaining, the guy was setting the mood, and others would soon follow.
“Between 10:00 PM and 10:30 PM, where were you all, and what were you doing?”
“I was in the dining area with the others,” the Swear-Master answered. “Then I stepped out. I couldn’t see you or your group, so I thought something might’ve happened.”
He had a point. Eun-Ho had made a show of leaving first, drawing attention, while Ji-Eun, Jae-Hyuk, Han-Wool, and Yul all played their parts. From the Swear-Master’s perspective, it probably did seem like the group had just vanished.
“Did you run into anyone on the way?”
“Yeah, that loudmouth girl asked where I was going.”
The loudmouth girl?
“You mean Lee Ye-Ji? What time was that?”
“Just before ten. Like, 9:50 ish? She said she needed to sleep by ten for her skin or whatever.”
“So, right after I left.”
That put his last verified sighting before 10:00 PM. Since Eun-Ho had been trapped in the “office” around 10:20, and it was 10:40 now, that left plenty of time for foul play.
“And when I didn’t see anyone, I came downstairs. I didn’t do anything shady! I swear!”
However, in terms of time and opportunity, he had no alibi.
“Swear-Master, no alibi,” Eun-Ho said.
“Wait, w-what? I d-don’t?” he stammered, clearly thrown off.
Eun-Ho shrugged. “No alibi is no alibi.”
“Next. Chef?”
“I-I don’t know anything, and I don’t have to answer, either.”
That was a fair point. He wasn’t under oath, and this wasn’t a real interrogation. Eun-Ho wasn’t a cop and there were no Miranda rights here. However, that worked both ways.
“If you don’t cooperate, I’ll consider you as the prime suspect.”
The chef scoffed. “And what, you’re gonna call the police?”
Eun-Ho gave a soft laugh, “Haha. Of course not!”
After all, if the law couldn’t punish you, it also couldn’t protect you.
“I’ll just return the favor.”
That meant, if Eun-Ho decided to hit back, there was no safety net.
“Out here, fists speak louder than the law,” he said.
The chef flinched under Eun-Ho’s gaze. After a tense beat, he swallowed hard and finally replied, “I... I was with Ri-Na.”
“Ri-Na?”
It was a name that Eun-Ho didn’t recognize.
With a lazy wave, the model raised her hand. “Yoo Ri-Na. That’s me. Cute name, right?”
She said it with zero shame, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why?” Eun-Ho asked flatly.
“Huh? Because it sounds cute.”
“No, why were you together?”
“Oh, that.” She raised her eyebrows and nodded toward the chef.
“We... had some things to talk about. Just the two of us,” the chef replied instead.
Great. Vague answers. Just what I needed.
“Okay. So then, since when were you with each other?”
“We ran into each other by the restroom,” the chef muttered. “Had a little chat at the landing. Is that a problem?”
“So you two met in front of the restroom and what time was it?”
“I think it was about 10:00 PM. Then we came downstairs ‘cause it was getting stuffy.”
Bathroom to stairwell... Picking all the quiet corners?
“And what did you two talk about?” Eun-Ho asked.
The chef snapped. “Come on, we’re both adults. Do we really have to spell it out?”
Ri-Na just batted her eyes and gave an exaggerated shrug. “You sure ask a lot of questions.”
Eun-Ho narrowed his eyes but let it go for now. “Fine. Next up, our couple over here?”
The boyfriend stepped up before Eun-Ho could even point to them. He had his arm protectively wrapped around the girl, who appeared visibly pale.
“We were in the second-floor café. She wasn’t feeling well, so we were lying down.”
His tone made it clear that he wanted this over with.
“No one else was on the second floor, right? Just the two of you?”
“Well, yeah. She had a headache. It’s loud with all those people here...”
“Got it. And when did you get there?”
“Around nine. We’ve been there ever since.”
The defensive edge in his voice said it all. Maybe she was really sick.
“Babe... My head still hurts...” the girl whispered.
“When’s this over? She needs to rest.”
Well, it’s still worth verifying.
He was mentally piecing together the timeline for the five suspects.
Suddenly, the chef broke the silence. “So then, that leaves only one of us without an alibi. Am I right?”
He turned and stared straight at the Swear-Master. The others quickly chimed in, picking up on his cue.
“Yeah right! There’s only one without an alibi.”
“Well then, we’re done here, right? Can we go now?”
“W-wait, what? Are you guys talking about me?!”
All eyes zeroed in on the Swear-Master.
“You’re the only one who was alone.”
“Man, I can’t believe we even got lumped into this.”
“I-I swear it wasn’t me! Why the hell would I try to kill him?! That makes no sense!” Pale as a ghost, the Swear-Master threw up his hands in frantic denial. “Seriously, I swear! I didn’t do it! I put that on everything!”
“Calm down.”
Well then, they’d arrived at their answer or so they thought.
“Give me five minutes,” Eun-Ho said, stepping forward. “Just hang tight.”
It was time to end this little game of whodunit.
***
[You have sent a gift to Subject Yoon Sol-Ah.]
While Eun-Ho called in the final piece of the puzzle, the air grew colder around the Swear-Master. People were already treating him like he was guilty.
“Come on... There's no way, right?” Ji-Eun asked with doubts. “Eun-Ho’s saved our lives so many times...”
“If he really tried to kill our Hyungnim...” Jae-Hyuk said, teeth clenched, “I won’t let it slide.”
Even they were struggling to believe it, though their eyes were full of doubt. The Swear-Master looked completely lost, gripping his head and pounding his chest in frustration.
“God, this is insane! I’m telling you, it wasn’t me!”
Eun-Ho stepped closer. “Swear-Master.”
“W-what?! Look, man, I’m serious! You gotta believe me!”
“In the last trial, how many Welfare Points did you receive?”
“Huh?” The Swear-Master blinked at the sudden question. “Welfare Points?”
“It’s important. Please answer.”
He hesitated, clearly confused, but the question came again without explanation or context.
After a moment of wracking his brain, he replied, “I didn’t get any. Not a single one.”
It was just as Eun-Ho expected. Of course he didn’t because he’d screened a Marvil movie and spent the whole time gushing about superheroes. It would’ve been hard to earn points that way.
“Ugh, I don’t understand,” he muttered. “I showed ‘em a masterpiece of mankind, and they gave me nothing...”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” the model snapped. “What do Welfare Points have to do with the gas?”
Eun-Ho ignored her. “Which means he’s not the culprit.”
“What?!” the model barked. “Why is that?”
“Yeah, what makes you say that?” the chef asked.
“Because he couldn’t afford the bomb.”
“The gas bomb?” the couple asked. “The one that released poison?”
“Exactly. That item’s from the intermediate shop and it’s not cheap,” Eun-Ho said.
Just like that, the full explanation dropped.
“Your rankings so far were F at MS Tower, and C at Seoul Station. That means, even if you pooled all your incentives, you wouldn’t have a thousand Welfare Points. And you already blew most of that on the hunting trial, remember?” Eun-Ho explained.
There was no way the foul-mouthed guy had thousands to spare.
“Y-you memorized all that?!”
The intermediate shop upgrade alone cost ten thousand Welfare Points, and the gas bomb was another five grand. In other words, he needed at least fifteen thousand Welfare Points.
“It might have been possible if you’d gotten a massive donation, but you didn’t. You never showed up on the top ranks anyway, so there’s no way you had that kind of capital.”
“Holy shit, you’re terrifying...”
The Swear-Master took a step back, rubbing goosebumps from his arms. Strange. Why did he look more scared now that he’d been cleared?
“But then who did it?” someone whispered.
“Yeah! We all have alibis!”
“No,” Eun-Ho replied. “None of your alibis are solid.”
“What?! We explained everything! We were together!”
“And how do I know you’re not partners in crime?”
The chef scoffed. “You think we’re all in on it?! Just wow!”
He balled his fist, looking like he was one snide comment away from swinging.
Ding!
Just then, the elevator doors opened with a soft chime.
“Who is it?”
Sol-Ah stepped out and nodded calmly at Eun-Ho. She walked straight over and stopped in front of the sick girlfriend, saying nothing, just raising her palm. Then, just as planned, a soft light flowed from Sol-Ah’s hand into the woman’s body.
Fwoosh!
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Why are you healing her...?”
Her boyfriend scrambled to shield her, pulling her behind him, but it was too late. The check had been made.
Sol-Ah lowered her hand, saying, “It’s just a cold.”
“What?”
“What the hell?! What are you doing!”
It’s you.
Thud!
Without missing a beat, Eun-Ho moved in. Lunging forward, he grabbed the person’s wrists from behind and twisted them sharply, locking her arms.
“What the hell are you doing?!” she howled in shock, but Eun-Ho didn’t reply.
Thunk!
Still holding her arms, Eun-Ho swept the woman’s legs, forcing her down.
He shoved her hard into the wall, pinning her there, and called out, “Sol-Ah, now!”
“On it!”
Fwoosh!
Sol-Ah released a pulse of blue light and shouted like an arrow shot from a bow, “She’s poisoned! It’s her!”
That was all he needed to hear. She was the one who’d activated the gas bomb then walked into the lingering gas to feign innocence. Even then, she kept up the act and denied everything.
“You got greedy,” Eun-Ho said coldly.
“What the hell are you talking about?!”
“You could’ve waited for the gas to clear and take things slowly. But instead, you rushed. You were probably scared that someone else would get there first.”
If Subject X had waited just a few hours, or even until morning, she could’ve gotten away with it.
“Poisoned? No way...!”
“You didn’t even realize you were poisoned,” Eun-Ho continued. “No one would, because they don’t exactly monitor their own stamina down to decimal points.”
Unless, of course, they had that special contact lens.
[99.94%]
[Almighty Observer’s Eye]
- Specially engineered contact lenses developed by headquarter’s research and development division. When activated, it allows the user to view remaining stamina percentages of any target in sight.
- Eyes become clearer and more vivid upon equipping.
“I knew something was off the moment I saw you.”
That long, lean frame and the familiar posture was somehow familiar.
Looking at her straight in the eye, Eun-Ho asked the final question, “You’re X, aren’t you Yoo Ri-Na?”